Pony Profiles by Thalia Gentzel ~ The Paisley Pony by The Paisley Pony

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The Paisley Pony www.thepaisleypony.com 32 Stallion Issue 2011 Breeder Spotlight...our very own T halia Gentzel of Helicon Stables

Though we couldn’t present her with another Lifetime Acheivement Award...we could do an article to honor and thank her for all she’s done for us. Thanks Thalia... Love your Magazine Family!

Co-authored By E. Hunter Taylor and Molly Rhinedollar

Pony breeders rarely receive the sort of recognition they de-

serve. In recent years, however, our publication has given several important pony breeders well-deserved recognition in the form of wonderfully written and highly informative and insightful articles by Thalia Gentzel, our Feature Editor and Pony Profile Columnist. While no contemporary chronicler of the world of pony breeding can bring the same grace, knowledge and feel for the subject that Thalia herself is able to garner, her remarkable story as a pony breeder is one that needs to be told. Thalia’s magical journey in the world of pony breeding was foreshadowed by her name. Thalia was the muse of comedy in Greek mythology. The muses were daughters of Zeus, king of the Olympian gods and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The muses, often described as the queens of song, inspired the arts and promoted the more civilized features of human existence. Following the birth of Pegasus, the flying horse, the young colt was delivered to the muses to be cared for on Mount Helicon. In his excitement at meeting the muses, young Pegasus struck the side of Mount with his hooves, producing two springs (Aganippe and Hippocrene) which gushed forth in a bounty of inspiration. Thus Mount Helicon became a source of magical inspiration for the muses and Helicon became the prefix for the special ponies envisioned by Thalia Gentzel. A MUCH APPRECIATED AWARD On February 27, 2011, Thalia Gentzel’s immense success as a pony breeder and her other tireless contributions were recognized by the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America (WPCSA) when Society President Dr. Ruth Wilburn announced a special lifetime achievement award to Thalia for her “significant contributions to the WPCSA, the pony hunter world and the lives of many young riders throughout the course of her life,” which is now three-quarters of a century long. DEEP WELSH ROOTS Thalia’s deep love of Welsh Mountain Ponies had its start in Ithaca, New York in 1953. Mollie Butler of GlanNant Ponies, purchased two old Welsh pony mares and three of their offspring. Thalia was teaching Mollie’s daughter Linda and several of her friends and training them at shows in the area. Thalia described the two imported mares as “wonderful representatives of the old mountain type of pony.” In this same time period, Thalia accompanied Mollie on trips to Joan Dunning’s Farnley Farm in Virginia and later recounted that she loved seeing “Farnley Sirius and his son Farnley Gremlin.” According to Thalia, these were among the first of many wonderful experiences she has had in over a half century with Welsh and their people! 1957 was another benchmark year. Thalia and Mollie Butler started the first 4-H light horse group in the nation. Thalia was a charter member of Northeast Welsh Pony Association. She graduated from

Cornell, bought her first Welsh mare and took her first trip to Wales to get a firsthand look at the place of origin of the ponies she so loved. Her days at Cornell involved more than academics. While she was studying English, Journalism, Art History and Housing Design, she was also a member of the varsity equestrian team and President of the Cornell Saddle Club. Thalia relates, “We had a fledging interscholastic-intercollegiate circuit consisting of St. Lawrence College, Penn State, Cornell, NY Military Academy, Sussex Troop of NJ, and Lakemont Academy over on Seneca Lake. I was a long term member having started as an Ithaca High School sophomore and continuing through my Cornell undergraduate career. Thalia also did some learner judging- under Christopher Wadsworth from the famed Genesee Valley family, and under Gordon Wright! One year when the USET was schooling in the Valley the Cornell Saddle Club had Billy Steinkraus come to dinner and spoke on course design! He was Thalia’s initial idol along with local Roger Young in jumpers, and mentor in hunter breeding, Bill McMillan. Bill McMillan would take her to meetings of the Genesee Valley Breeders’ Association at Avon and in September to the colt show with the youngsters parading on the green in their colorful braids – and a visit to the Stallion Station with its statuesque old Remount horses. Thalia loves Thoroughbreds to this day! She recalls these days as absolutely grand times and to make it even better Frank Saturn, the dad of her oldest childhood friend, Margaret, played “old man’s polo” at Cornell so they walked “hots,” worked the scoreboard with the balls careening off the wall around their heads, and exercised the polo ponies when Cornell students were off for vacation. Thalia’s mare purchase didn’t work out as anticipated but was of lasting effect. She used her income tax refund from that year to purchase a Welsh mare, Brookside (English for GlanNant) Sparkle. With her Cornell friend, Frank Cassano, Sparkle was to be the foundation mare for Thalia and Frank’s plan to breed “athletic riding ponies for children.” Although Sparkle never produced a live foal, she remained a member of Thalia’s family for 25 years and inspired love for ponies and teaching three generations to ride and drive especially Thalia’s two daughters, Anne and Molly. Sparkle wore pop beads and a harness concocted of old belts, twine, and lunge lines, pulled the wicker-sided trap for picnics in the park, won pet pony classes and nickered a welcome every day. Another big event of 1957 was Thalia’s summer long trip to Wales and Europe with a Cornell friend. On this trip, Thalia visited Coed Coch, Criban and E.G.E. Griffiths’ pony studs. It was also on this trip that Thalia saw her first Section B Welsh ponies. Thalia recalls: “This was the beginning of the love affair with the B’s that endures today.” The 1957 European trip had very significant consequences. Thalia’s 1957 visit to Coed Coch led to a 1959 invitation from Coed Coch owner Daisy Brodrick to Thalia and her mother to stay at Coed

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Coch and use it as their base while they toured Wales. Prior to the 1959 trip Mollie Butler had been corresponding with Miss Brodrick about the purchase of a pony mare named Coed Coch Prydyddes ”Puff” by the famous Welsh sire, Criban Victor.

(riding Saddle Seat) and Western Pleasure, and trail. This was their last saddle seat appearance, for in the winter of 1977 - 1978, Molly went to Saturday camp at the Ledges Stables in nearby Roscoe, IL and became enamored with jumping! And so did her pony!

Mrs. Butler’s interest in the mare was primarily as a brood mare but the “rabbits kept coming up empty.” She had been advised by Miss Brodrick that she could not guarantee that “Puff” was in foal. Thalia advised Mollie to buy the mare anyway, saying “She’s lovely. Buy her for Linda.” Mollie did and this decision led to major breeding pony success for both Mollie Butler and Thalia nearly three decades later.

PONIES PONIES PONIES!

Prydyddes was in foal and she had a total of fourteen foals and the daughter she carried by ship from Wales, GlanNant Sonnet, had sixteen foals. Prydyddes’s most known offspring were the stallions, GlanNant Limerick, GlanNant Ballad and GlanNant Epic, who later became the herdsire for Thalia, herself, at Helicon Sport Ponies. “Puff” was also the grandmother to Spring Valleys Runner “Guy” who became a beloved fixture of the Rinedollar family in 1977. “Guy” was the epitome of ponies and won countless awards in the small pony hunters, was AHSA Reserve National Champion in Welsh Pleasure Driving, a CDE winner in Texas with his junior driver Molly, hunt team winner at Devon, a short stirrup “saint,” western pleasure winner, and WOW versatility winner six times! THE MORGAN INTERLUDE WITH MORE YOUTH LEADERSHIP During the late 1960’s and 1970’s, the Rinedollar family and trainer, Rex Parkinson were successful in hand, park saddle and park harness with the family’s Morgan stallion, Cajun Pepper, son of the famous Brown Pepper whom Thalia had shown in park saddle as a teenage in NY, PA, and MA. Darold and Thalia also showed their foundation mare, Gay of Gladacres, and her daughter Gay’s Copper Penny, in the carriage driving. Then all “the girls” rode saddle seat with Dick Leadley of Lake Geneva, WI and Molly won the walktrot equitation at the Morgan Regional Jubilee in Springfield, IL. Thalia was also active as a coach for Morgan horse youth achievement workshops and the Morgan youth judging teams. Molly was on Thalia’s national champion junior judging team at the Morgan Grand National in 1977 at Oklahoma City while her senior team was reserve national champion. Thalia was also Interim Youth Editor for The Morgan Horse Magazine during this era.

Molly & Spring Valleys Runner

Interestingly, mother and daughter went on from Oklahoma City to the first American National Welsh Show at Tulsa in 1977. Molly was successful with Guy (Spring Valleys Runner) in hand, pleasure driving, English

In addition to the Morgan horses, there were always ponies around the farm. Daughter, Molly Rinedollar charmingly describes the horse operation of this period on the Helicon Show Stables web site. “My mother, sister and I did all the horses ourselves. All the ponies lived outside with run-in sheds. The worst was in the winter when we would have to carry warm water from our house to the pastures. The hose was always thawing in the kitchen. It seems like a five gallon bucket weighs several hundred pounds when you’re ten years old. Trekking through the snow drifts in subzero Illinois weather was never much fun! Putting hay in the mow was never much fun either. It was always so hot in the summer and the hay would stick to you. Also, it never failed that you would walk into school or some public place and have hay in your hair - and you’d have manure on your shoes no matter what the season.” Further evidence of the family’s way of life that can only be fully appreciated by another horse person is provided by a photograph on Thalia’s Helicon Sport Ponies website titled “Daughters Molly (8) and Anne (12) with Sparkle (18) in 1975 through the entry hall and into the living room.” After all, why shouldn’t the family pony be allowed to enjoy the house? In 1978 a return visit was made to Thalia’s Welsh pony roots: This time it was daughter Molly who spent the summer in Ithaca, NY with Mollie Butler at GlanNant Farm, working and showing. Thalia and her daughters, Molly and Anne, began their IL pony breeding operation in 1975 with Joy of Yesteryear, having sent a Midwestern bred mare to Liseter Red Bird at GlanNant Farm. Thalia was working on earning her master’s degree in education at Northern Illinois University. The first product of Thalia’s breeding operation was the foaling in 1979 of Helicon Mayday, who went on to become the Zone V Small Pony Hunter Champion plus American National Welsh English Pleasure Champion. Helicon May Day aka Big Enuf was later owned by Ashlee Bond and they continued his winning ways in California. In the late seventies, the Rinedollar gals’ first Welsh stallion was 21 year old Section B, Farnley Sparkler by Farnley Sirius, a Coed Coch Glyndwr son who had been a favorite of Thalia’s at Farnley decades before. Thalia had know Sparkler both at Mollie Butler’s in NY and at Bill Winkelman’s in IA and very much liked his type,

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athletic ability, and ground covering stride. Sparkler produced Helicon Ember, Half Welsh Pleasure and Hunter Grand Champion, and excellent broodmares Helicon Hey Day and Helikon Halo. Helikon Halo produced the zone medium pony hunter champion, Helicon Headliner and his full brother Hillcrest McGyver who was reserve champion novice junior at the Eventing Championships. Halo also produced Blackberry by Hillcrest’s Magic Marker who was Small Pony Champion at Pony Finals. AN EPIC EVENT! In 1986, the already successful Helicon pony breeding operation took a giant step forward. Once again an aspect of Thalia’s life came full circle; this time she purchased a son of the pony mare she picked out for Mollie Butler at Coed Coch in 1959. This son, GlanNant Epic, launched the Helicon ponies to the top of the Thalia & Epic pony hunter world. GlanNant Epic was by the Farnley Lustre son, Farnley Reflection, out of Coed Coch Prydyddes herself. Thalia tells how this momentous event occurred: “I knew Epic by reputation- national grand stallion Welsh section B stallion at Devon and ranch cutting horse for Dr. Gerald Clair of State College, PA and a champion open jumper against horses. Oh my! My hands were shaking as I ran to the phone! Success! You know ‘the rest of the story!’ As my Molly says. ‘Our lives have never been the same since!’ The 21 year old stallion and I, then 50 years old, had a great working relationship breeding mares for our program and numerous others – and what a love affair we had! Look at his little lip wiggling in the photograph! I have missed him and his foals every day since he died at 36 in 2000 with his head in my lap.” Noted hunter offspring sired by Epic were Sliver Steps (Helicon Garden Party) who was the 1996 Champion Small at the Pony Finals and four time AHSA Horse of the Year in her division and Helicon Take Notice who was 2001 Pony Finals Champion once and Reserve Champion twice, circuit champion at HITS Ocala and Thermal plus Winter Equestrian Festival and Indoors Champion. Helicon Take Notice has also been a cover girl for the original GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES published by American Girl Dolls. She is still most special to Thalia as she was her personal show filly from 6 weeks of age through two years! McGregor (Lyn-Lee Calypso) was named AHSA Horse of the Year in his division on two occasions. Other Hunter Finals winners were Tickle Me Too-

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Reserve Champion Medium Pony Hunter and highest over fences score of the finals and Portrait Painter who was Champion Large Green HOTY. Other notable performers in the pony hunter ranks by GlanNant Epic include: Helicon Notice Me, Summer (Helicon Summer Games), Helicon Fun N Games, Helicon Privateer, Helicon Buccaneer, Helicon Bright and Breezy, Alexander’s Epigram, Helicon Fantasia, Helicon Fiesta, Helicon Heat Wave, Helicon Herald, Helicon Hi Frequency, Helicon Poetess, Helicon Special Notice, Helicon Wings of Love, Patchwork Top Notch, and Rollingwoods Q and A. Epic sired horses too-Helicon Hi Frequency and Helicon Epic Quest. Epic also produced top ponies for driving, eventing, dressage, and breeding programs. A driving champion has been Helicon Epicenter although his dam, the Gentzels’ GlanNant Frosty by Farnley Sparkler, produced remarkable hunter ponies, (Helicon) Touch of Frost, by GlanNant Ballad, was 1998 Pony Finals Small Pony Champion with the highest small score over fences. Frosty was also the dam of Helicon Epic Event and Alexander’s Frosted Blue by Gayfield’s Vida Blue. Caption --Thalia loved showing WPCSA Regional Filly Champion-Helicon Poetess.

Thalia & Helicon Poetess Eventers by Epic have been horses Helicon Epic Expression and a frozen semen foal from Jane Bassett’s program. Ponies are Alexander’s Epic Adventure and Hillcrest’s McGyver, American Eventing Championship Novice Junior Reserve Champion! McGyver’s full brother, Helicon Headliner, has been Zone 6 Champion Medium. Helicon Notice Me went from Large Green Pony Hunter Champion at the Winter Equestrian Festival to dressage champion for a teenager. Versatile ponies! Breeding stallions have been Patchwork Omen, Patchwork Gold Nugget, Helicon Epilogue, Helicon Buccaneer and Helicon Epic Horizons. The Gentzel’s three Epic daughters, Helicon All Smiles, Cat Creek Rose of Grace, and Patchwork Dragon Charmer have produced winners in pony hunter breeding, Pony Finals (Gracefully Yours-Small Green Reserve Champion and Patchwork Strawberry-

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ribbon winner) and HOTY Dragonheart in Small Greens. GlanNant Epic’s numerous athletes including the USEF Horse of the Year and Pony Hunter Finals Champions, ranked him in the top ten of USEF Leading Pony Hunter Sires for a decade. We believe he was the first Welsh pony to have semen frozen (Cornell 1988). He was the oldest active Welsh stallion in the world for several years and Thalia contracted with the government of Taiwan for Epic’s shipment of frozen semen. While Epic died in 2000 he has remained among the top 20% of USEF Leading Pony Hunter sires based on the performance of his offspring and has kept his owners, Thalia and Molly, in the same bracket! That pony mare that Thalia picked out at Coed Coch in 1959 produced a sire of champions and it is most fitting that so many carry the Helicon prefix. In 2000 GlanNant Country Roads, a 22 year old *Cusop Sparklet son, came to Helicon to become the herd sire and continue the winning tradition. Country Roads has produced a plethora of champion offspring. Helicon Just Notice who won the medium green pony hunter model at the Pony Finals in 2009 and was CO Summer Circuit Medium Pony Champion in 2010 is one of the family’s all time favorites. Country is also the sire of Gracefully Yours who won Reserve Champion at the 2009 Pony Finals. Other Country offspring bred at Helicon who have been Best Young Pony include Helicon High Classic Country, Helicon Easy Street, Helicon Country Grace, and Helicon Penny Lane. Thalia relates, “I attribute a good measure of my success in breeding to the use of wonderful proven stallions-Farnley Sparkler, GlanNant Epic, and GlanNant Country Roads. They were of excellent performance bloodlines and excellent pedigrees. I have always recommended that new breeders get a jump on their programs by utilizing the tried and true bloodlines as ranked in the USEF Leading Sire and Breeder Lists.” Thalia purchased GlanNant Skipper from Mollie Butler in 1992 that produced but one foal, Helicon Corsair. She considered him the most handsome 14.2 hand BLACK STALLION and in turn, he carried on with more gorgeous big offspring. Helicon Cordelia was IL Sport Pony Site Champion Helicon Corsair at three months and has been a children’s hunter pony champion and also a dressage pony for her owner’s mother. Her black full sister, Helicon Cornelia, is embarking on a hunter career in Colorado. Helicon Corvette has been on the winning COTH Senior Novice Adult Challenge and is currently a pony jumper champion. Helicon Corinna has had top ribbons in large greens at the finals. Promotion of Welsh ponies has been Thalia’s passion for over half a

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century fueled by her opinion that Welsh of any section or crossbred are the most talented, versatile, and humorous, with a tremendous will to do! To this end she has written on Welsh and their people, their history, their bloodlines, anything Welsh. She has had articles and columns published in Welsh Pony World, the Wisconsin Welsh Rarebit, Welsh Pony Tales, The Horseman’s Review, IL Equine Market (Wonderful Welsh column for five years), On Course (the first Pony Profiles column), Welsh Roundabout, Chronicle of the Horse, the WPCSA Yearbook and Welsh Review, Wide World of Welsh, Cindy Taylor’s The Paisley Pony (Thalia is Feature Editor and Pony Profiles columnist, now into the 6th year) and The Plaid Horse. She hopes to gather her articles to archive for The Paisley Pony website so more readers can have the opportunity to read, read, read about Welsh! For five years Thalia chaired the WPCSA Cooperative Advertising with ads in the Chronicle Pony Breeding and Pony Issues, USEF’s Equestrian, and Wide World of Welsh. “Fielding nearly 90 little ads in one issue seemed Herculean”, she recalls! For many years she announced along with at the Welsh of Wisconsin shows and especially enjoyed doing the 2006 Welsh Centennial show at Gordyville Arena in Rantoul, IL. This had been a vision of Thalias with Midwest Welsh Breeders members for the charter state of WPCSA although managed by Welsh of Wisconsin. Back in the Eighties she was also the voice of the Ledges Stables in Roscoe, IL for their AHSA-A hunter and jumper shows as well as the IHJA-B and NIHJA shows. Working with some of the grand old judges such as the late great Gene Cunningham was truly meaningful! It kept her tethered so Molly could show without “Mom” hovering over her at ringside. Thalia also enjoyed getting Welsh divisions in other breed shows and helping to organize Welsh Enthusiasts’ shows at Pam Eber’sanything to promote the Welsh! “Marilyn Checki and I look back on those WOW show days with fondness, “ Thalia recalls. “We would have to look around when we heard, “Mom, Mom!” to see who was calling, and then it was ‘Gram maw!’ I am so very proud of Marilyn for becoming USEF Leading Pony Hunter Breeder TWICE and of Gayfields Vida Blue for being Leading Sire TWICE – all going back to the Eighties when we both set out to raise good ponies for our kids. And I am pleased that our family was right up there with GlanNant Epic in the Leading Sires and as Breeder too, listed under Molly’s name as is the Helicon prefix.” Along with Alex Jayne as breeder- trainer, Thalia produced some mighty fine ponies in the IL-WI Stateline area! Marilyn and Thalia were both honored when he recognized them in a Chronicle ad for their “constant supply of quality ponies”! Thalia was also tickled when Alex told Molly that “Your mom’s place isn’t fancy but she has really good ponies”. Much of her success was due to the expert riding all of her ponies purchased for Maggie and Charlie Jayne to make up – “and as breeders we all know we become successful when our ponies go to the right hands!” says Thalia. Over the years Thalia has shown Welsh Section A, B, D, and Half Welsh in many of the divisions offered by WPCSA with a number of regional and national awards. George has been national year-end high score winner in both cob pleasure driving and carriage driving with his imported Section D mare, *Fronarth Lady’s Delight, and with her full sister, *Fronarth Lady Anne, in cob fillies. They, and

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others, have had huge success in AHSA/USEF pony hunters and jumpers with Horse of the Year and Pony Finals Champions. “The Welsh and their people, as well as many other aspects of the equine scene, have provided an unparallelled richness of life to our family. My early teaching, with Mollie Butler’s first Welsh ponies in 1953, led to a 30-year classroom career although I protested throughout most of my education that I was NOT going to following the family footsteps! Younger daughter Molly is now a fourth generation teacher although in ‘a different arena’ –literally. She is carrying on with our show and sales ponies at Helicon Show Stables in Parker, CO – ‘collecting’ older Epics with two still active in her program at age 24. Granddaughter Sarah and great granddaughter Katie do chores with nine ponies in Rockton, IL at the old home place while George and I have help with just three in Alachua, FL where we are now year round due to health concerns.”

George and Thalia & Helicon Epicenter

The recurring themes keep recurring. As Thalia has eased out of the pony breeding operation, the torch has passed to her daughter, Molly Rinedollar, who opened Helicon Show Stables in Parker Colorado in 2003. Her successful barn based on the show and sales success of ponies produced in the family breeding operation. The magic of the Helicon name goes on and Thalia’s legacy in the pony world is assured. Zeus must be proud!

This picture was taken just recently of Thalia and Helicon Handsome, a two year old colt by Maranatha Tapistry out of a Helicon mare by Glannant Epic. He is the herd sire for Daydream Sport Ponies in Williston, Florida. Daydream is founded (2011) upon the blood of Helicon and Maple Side in honor of top pony hunter breeders, Thalia Gentzel and Carol Lush. The focus is on producing fabulous moving, athletic large and medium ponies for the hunter ring, as well as for the other sport disciplines. During Thalia’s visit, Handsome was working in the round pen until he recognized his “mom” and slammed on the brakes to say hello. It was a touching moment.